Zikos Chua
Vasileios Zikos Chua Ming Xun (born 15 April 2002) is a Singaporean-Greek professional footballer who plays as a forward for Singapore Premier League club Young Lions, on loan from Geylang International.[1]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vasileios Zikos Chua Ming Xun | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 15 April 2002 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Kastoria, Greece | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Young Lions (on loan from Geylang International) | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2017 | National Football Academy | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Geylang International | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018– | Geylang International | 21 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | → Young Lions (loan) | 23 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Singapore U14 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Singapore U16 | 10 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Singapore U19 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019– | Singapore U23 | 11 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:14, 3 November 2019 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:14, 3 November 2019 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Early life
Zikos Chua was born in Greece to a Greek mother and a Chinese Singaporean father and grew up in Kastoria, Macedonia, Greece, with his younger brother, before returning to Singapore when he was 10.[2] He was a student at Tanjong Katong Secondary School when he made his first bow as a professional footballer.[1][3]
Club career
Youth
Zikos Chua started his career with the National Football Academy before he was signed by former Geylang Head Coach Noor Ali for the club's Under-19 side in 2017. He has also represented Singapore at various levels and was nominated for The New Paper Dollah Kassim Award in 2017.
While playing for the National Football Academy, Chua was also representing his school, Tanjong Katong Secondary School, in the National "C" Division, scoring 26 goals in 2016 to help his school win the title.[4] He was named in Goal Singapore's 2020 NxGn list following his sublime performances for Geylang International.[5]
Geylang International
On 4 July 2018, Chua came on as a late substitute in Geylang International FC's 3–1 win over Young Lions at Jalan Besar Stadium for his professional debut at the age of 16, Chua eclipsed the previous record set by Hariss Harun as the youngest ever debutant in the Singapore Premier League.[6] He was the youngest player to ever play in the country's top tier of soccer and is the third-youngest scorer in the history of Singapore's professional league.[7]
On 14 April 2019, Chua became the third youngest scorer in Singapore Premier League history, at 16 years and 364 days, after Hariss Harun and Fareez Farhan.[8] He kept his exploits by becoming the youngest player ever to reach the five-goal mark in league history, at 17 years and 102 days on 27 July 2019.[9]
As of April 2020, Chua has scored 5 goals in 13 matches for the Eagles.[5]
He suffered an ACL injury in 2019.[10]
International career
Zikos Chua was first called up to the Singapore under-22 in 2019 for the 2019 Merlion Cup. He made his debut for the team on 7 June 2019, in a 3–0 win against Philippines.[11] He made his debut against Philippines in the Merlion Cup.
On 31 July 2019, Fadzuhasny Juraimi named Chua in the Singapore squad for 2019 AFF U18 Championship.[12]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 5 July 2022.[13]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Geylang International | 2018 | S.League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2019 | Singapore Premier League | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 | ||
| 2020 | Singapore Premier League | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2021 | Singapore Premier League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 | ||
| Young Lions | 2022 | Singapore Premier League | 19 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 8 |
| Total | 19 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 8 | ||
| Career total | 38 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 13 | ||
U23 International caps
U19 International caps
| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 August 2019 | Thanh Long Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam |  Thailand | 1-1 (draw) | 2019 AFF U-18 Youth Championship |
U16 International caps
U16 International goals
| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 March 2017 | Po Kong Village Road Park, Hong Kong |  Qatar | 1-0 | 3-0 (won) | 2017 Jockey Cup |
| 2 | 19 March 2017 | Po Kong Village Road Park, Hong Kong | Qatar | 3-0 | 3-0 (won) | 2017 Jockey Cup |
| 3 | 24 September 2017 | Wibawa Mukti Stadium, Indonesia |  Guam | 5-0 | 8-1 (won) | 2018 AFC U-16 Championship qualification |
| 4 | 24 September 2017 | Wibawa Mukti Stadium, Indonesia | Guam | 8-1 | 9-1 (won) | 2018 AFC U-16 Championship qualification |
| 5 | 1 August 2018 | Gelora Joko Samudro Stadium, Indonesia |  Laos | 1-2 | 1-2 (lost) | 2018 AFF U-16 Youth Championship |
| 6 | 3 August 2018 | Gelora Joko Samudro Stadium, Indonesia | Thailand | 1-2 | 1-3 (lost) | 2018 AFF U-16 Youth Championship |
| 7 | 7 August 2018 | Gelora Joko Samudro Stadium, Indonesia |  Brunei | 1-0 | 5-0 (won) | 2018 AFF U-16 Youth Championship |
| 8 | 7 August 2018 | Gelora Joko Samudro Stadium, Indonesia | Brunei | 2-0 | 5-0 (won) | 2018 AFF U-16 Youth Championship |
Honours
References
- "Geylang teen Zikos Chua, 16, eclipses Hariss Harun as youngest ever debutant in Singapore Premier League". Football Association Singapore. 5 July 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- "Meet Zikos Chua: Singapore's very own Greek god in the making inspired by Cristiano Ronaldo". Goal.com.
- "Zikos Chua is the rare Chinese player Singapore football needs for the future". FOX Sports. 22 July 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- hermes (4 September 2016). "New school football kingpins". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- "From Ilhan Fandi to Farhan Zulkifli - Meet the future of Singapore". Goal.com.
- "Geylang teen Zikos Chua, 16, eclipses Hariss Harun as youngest ever debutant in Singapore Premier League - Football Association of Singapore". www.fas.org.sg. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- ""I Feel Greek, I Feel Singaporean" says 17-year-Old Soccer Wonder (video)".
- "Singapore Premier League Week 6: Roundup - Football Association of Singapore". www.fas.org.sg. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- "AIA Singapore Premier League". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- "Zikos Chua confirmed to have suffered an ACL injury".
- "Vasileios Zikos Chua, 17, included in Fandi Ahmad's Merlion Cup squad".
- "Fadzuhasny Juraimi names Singapore squad for AFF U18 Championship".
- Zikos Chua at Soccerway. Retrieved 15 April 2019.